Cosmic Imbalance
by Blooknaburg
Summary: Chapter 5! Yay! One average day on the Bebop starts and ends with a scratch. (finished)
1. Itches

This is just a short piece to get me back into the fanfiction groove. Gonna last five chapters or so. Slice of life sort of thing, with no real action, post Knockin' on Heaven's Door. Maybe light Spike-Faye-ness so I can practice. Nothing major. 

Thoughts are in _italics._

Cosmic Imbalance

1.0

Itches

It was a somnolent afternoon on Mars. It was summer. _Martian summers are always so damn hot. Nothing compared to a summer on Venus, though. _

The fan whirred around and around over the common room, doing almost nothing to alleviate the heat. Or the humidity. _Martian summers are so damn humid._

The insidious heat snuck beneath his clothing, summoning sweat up from every pore. It was too hot to move, but too hot not to move. Spike's course of action was not to move. Less exertion.

The last time they had been on Mars was Halloween. Spike wondered why they couldn't have come earlier…or later. Like during winter. He opened his eyes to observe the ceiling.

Spike did not, however, wonder where Ed was, how much Faye was losing at the tracks or even what was for dinner. 

He was wondering whether or not it was worth it to move and scratch the itch.

It was just to the left of his crotch on the inside of his thigh. He had stripped to his vertically striped boxers and thin undershirt a couple of hours ago.  Sweat had infested his clothing, irritating the itch. He briefly considered why, when he needed things most did they have to break. _Stupid AC. _

Finger nails pressed into the flesh of his thigh moving back and forth. He sighed in relief and closed his eyes again. With his hand tucked back under his head the other arm moved slowly on his elbow in an arc to land on and grab the pack of cigarettes on the table. Maneuvering the pack between his fingers he shook the pack once to let one cigarette come sliding out. He placed the box back on the table and his arm moved over his chest and grabbed the lighter balanced on the back of the couch. 

A soft chink and flare later and Spike was smoking slowly. He was waiting for a time when it would be appropriate to eat to come along and enjoying his smoking and not moving much when his foot twitched involuntarily.

This one was just above the knuckle on his right big toe. 

_Itches on your feet eventually go away._ He thought. So he lay silently smoking and waited. 

An interminable amount of time later he noticed that he hadn't noticed when his foot stopped itching so he moved on to the next cigarette, lighting it right off the first and thought no more of it.

A waft of cool air breathed out of a large vent over the couch about two more cigarettes later, bringing some dust motes and a warbling shout of surprise as Ed fell against the vent cover. 

The left side of her face was pressed into the grille before it came off and she crashed to the floor next to the couch.

Spike pursed his lips around his cigarette and took a deep breath and let it out slowly before rolling his eyes floorwards and asking, "Ed are you ok?"

NFA: Well that was rather different for me to write considering that there was almost no dialogue.  I like to write dialogue. Next up Ed's chapter. The day will go a bit farther every chapter. Then Faye after that. Thanks to everyone who reviewed my other story and the email! They motivated bunches. Check my info page for details about it. PLEASE REVIEW! 


	2. Happenin'

Ahh part two. Thanks **Gabby** and **Cowgirl13**! It is about time I got back. Thanks bunches guys!

P.S. I forgot the disclaimer last time. 

I do not own Cowboy Bebop.

Thoughts are in _italics._

Cosmic Imbalance

2.0

Happenin' 

"Yes…I'm fine." she wavered. _Ow. _Ed unstuck her face from the grille of the vent cover and popped up. Everything was happening slowly today. Except for Ed. She was happening at light speed as usual. No little fall out of a vent was going to slow her down. Not when there was treasure to be had. 

She placed a hand to her scull and looked down at Spike stretched out on the couch. He blinked at her, "If you say so."  

Ed moved her hips slightly to the right and cracked her back in two places. She sighed before holding up her pointer finger. "Arg me matey. Arr." 

She waited only a second before squaring up with the vent and clapping her hands together over her head, knees bent. With a mighty jump up her fingers curled around the lip of the vent and she scrabbled back inside it.

A few moments and three loose screws later she had finally made it up the vent to where it turned 90 degrees and ran parallel to the ceiling. The dull click of a small round button on the side of her goggles illuminated the long tunnel with dull limey light. 

The treasure map crinkled as she pulled it out of her waist band and spread it open in front of herself. She forgot where she had found it, but that wasn't important. Where it led was. At the end of the long dotted line and tiny words were a big red X and a small drawing of a treasure chest. _Arr. Booty._ She thought with an eye squint. It looked just like all of the pirate booty maps that were on those funny shows that ran on channel two every afternoon. So she assumed that that was what it was. And the booty seemed to be somewhere inside the Bebop. 

"Arg. I knews I shoulds have taken thart last right at Albuquerque." Her light voice argged into the darkness.

She crawled through the vent to the last turn listening for the humming. _'Ye will hear the hum of the Earth. Turn Right,' _proclaimed the map. She heard the humming and felt around for the hatch.

She dropped down into the rotating tunnel and waited until a door that opened to the right came along. She hummed happily and danced waiting for the door. It swung her way and she rolled it open and jumped through. Back in the common room she saw Spike's head crane up and look at her._ 'Take five paces forward and turn Left.'  _She saluted Spike and moved down the dark hallway. 

_'When ye feels the chill of the __Arctic__ in yer bones go Left.' _ She walked and walked her feet padding softly and just barely echoing along the round hallway. After a while it did begin to cool off, but not enough to be the 'chill of the Arctic.' 

Ed pressed her left hand against the side of the hall so she could feel which door was coldest. Her fingers trailed over three doors and the space of where another hallway connected before they brushed against the surface of a notably cooler door.  

She cackled to herself and jabbed the key pad with one finger. Hopping like a monkey over the threshold she consulted the map again. _'Ten paces forward reveals to ye the Stone Sentinel.' _Ten steps later she was looking at a large, gray refrigerator. _'Some distance to the East there will be a small mountain. This be the mountain of the Golden Pachyderm. At the top lies yer treasure.'  _Ed looked to her right and saw a large pile of boxes and matte black appliances. 

Howling with victory she scrambled up. She did pass a small, once yellow, elephant toy, and knew she was close.

Seconds later at the top she pulled open the flaps of a medium sized cardboard box. 

"What? Ed gets no doubloons!?"  She rubbed her face up and down stretching her skin. Inside the box was a roll of coppery wire, a rubber bulbous thing with a long tube sticking out one end that smelled like boogers, a small red plastic box, a pair of tweezers, two Joker cards, a purpley compact disk, and a used Band-Aid stuck to one side. 

Carefully avoiding the rubber thing she plucked out the small red box and shook it. It was heavy and made clinky noises against the plastic. As she pulled off the cover a multitude of glass marbles were revealed. She yipped in joy and dived off the pile of boxes. 

Moments later as she rounded the corner to the common room she tripped in her excitement and sent all of the marbles down the stairs and through the air to bounce and roll off of the table, the TV, the chair, and Spike.

It started to rain.

"Oops." She smiled clicking off her goggles as she looked at Spike covered in sparkly glass marbles and the ship rumbled as someone's ship docked.  

NFA: Anything Ed is fun and easy to write, so I hope you guys liked it. Faye is up next then we'll see if I have the creativity to do an Ein. @_@ Probably not.

PLEASE REVIEW!


	3. Judy in Disguise with Glasses

Thanks to Cowgirl13 and Gabby for reviewing again! I'm so glad you guys liked the last chapter!  
  
Thoughts are in italics.  
  
I do not own Cowboy Bebop.  
  
Cosmic Imbalance  
  
3.0  
  
Judy in Disguise with Glasses  
  
Faye climbed down out of her ship and rubbed her neck and sighed. The rain pounded down on the ships hull and trickled down off the ship into the water. Pulling her sunglasses off of her damp head she tossed them up into the cockpit of her ship and shut the hatch.  
  
It had been a horrible day at the races. Her luck had started off great then plunged over a cliff after some old guy groped her butt and then tried to run off and brag to his friends who were playing cards. As he started to run-hobble back to the table she took three steps forward and the old pervert got a white boot in the side and his nose to the cement.  
  
The other two old guys stood up and the one with the blue cap was given money by the other. They wobbled over to their beaten friend and tried to help him up, but got stuck halfway down. They grabbed their backs and yelled loudly until they were removed by some security officers.  
  
When her attention fully returned to the races Java was trailing behind Charlie, Bullet, and Roller-skate, and Willow's Good was in the lead. "Dammit!" she exclaimed and ran to the betting windows to change her money to a different horses. Java just wasn't cutting it today. She stood on her tip-toes and tried to see over the heads. Willow's Good looked like he was holding pretty steady, but Bullet was coming up fast. She split her 20 million woolongs between the two.  
  
Faye sighed, content that she would have money no matter which way the race went, and let herself slowly mosey back towards the rail. Suddenly a roar went up from the crowds. Derisive shouts and unbridled yells of joy hammered her ears.  
  
Pushing through the now fervent crowd Faye burst through the people and wrapped her hands around the rail, leaning out. She squinted her eyes, her lips pursed.  
  
Willow's Good was neck and neck with Bullet. She raised her arm and whooped because maybe they would be tied and she'd get twice her money back!  
  
Someone bumped into her, pushing her stomach into the rail and knocking the ticket out of her hand as another mighty roar began and a golden horse zoomed passed all of the others and won the race.  
  
Her mouth hung open as she watched her ticket float and twist in the turbulent air on its way down.  
  
The announcer's voice filtered through to her as she lost sight of the ticket. "And what a surprise! Peanut Butter, from behind, comes out on top! What a finish!"  
  
"Peanut Butter? What the hell." She whined pathetically as she folded her arms on the rail and put her head on them.  
  
After that she had decided to be angry and stomped off to her ship and flew home.  
  
What a shitty day. She thought as a white-sparkling marble rolled across the hanger and bumped into the toe of her boot.  
  
NFA: Yay, for Faye! This chapter seemed sorta boring to me, but I liked finding names for the horses. I hope you enjoyed it and this chapter's title was taken from the song 'Judy in Disguise with Glasses.' PLEASE REVIEW! Next up.Jet chapter! 


	4. Imagining Beauty

Ok, most of this chapter came from me imaging how and what I would do if I had a bonsai. Like what would make me want to cut off this part here or alter this part? I wondered how people who do that would decide what to do…or not do and this is what I came up with. The point is beauty right?

Whoa…just noticed how short this one was. ^^;

Humongous thank you to **Gabby** for her review. ^__^ Thanks for making me think!

Disclaimer: I do not own Cowboy Bebop.

Thoughts are in _italics._

Cosmic Imbalance

4.0

Imagining Beauty

The marble rolled through the doorway and tapped softy on the tow of Jet's shoe. _Huh?_ He thought. Distant shrieks and a tinkling clatter echoed briefly down the corridor and into the bonsai room where Jet sat calmly, white gloves on and shrub shears poised delicately at the tips of a tiny pine's needles.

He set down the shears and bent over to retrieve the marble from the floor. He examined it for second under the harsh light of the room and then stood up. He made his way out of the bonsai room and down towards the common room when he heard a loud 'thump' and a grating feminine voice screech at someone else, using very unladylike words. 

"ED?! What the HELL are all of these doing all over everywhere!?" he rounded the corner and placed his fists on his hips as he observed the scene. Spike was sitting on the couch fishing what he guessed where more marbles out of his shirt and Faye was sitting, fists clenched, veins popping at the bottom of the short flight of stairs. She had probably slipped on one of Ed's new marbles. Ed had stationed herself on the railing of the stairway that lead down to the bathroom and was giggling happily.

Faye growled and jumped off the floor and leapt at Ed. "Come 'ere you…thing!" Ed giggled wildly and lunged into the air, latching herself around an air vent and hauling herself around to the top, smiling like a devil as she watched Faye fume below. 

Jet cleared his throat and they all looked at him.

"When's dinner?" Spike asked pathetically. His lips had settled far down his face in hunger and boredom. His stomach made a gurgling-groan noise and he placed his hand over his stomach. 

"Not until every one of these marbles is picked up." He directed this statement at the whole group, but mainly Ed. 

Spike and Faye sighed simultaneously, and Ed's head drooped sharply to one side and she also sighed. 

As Ed slithered her way down from the vent Jet congratulated himself on another small disaster diverted and considered the battle of the day won.   He walked slowly back to the bonsai room.

He sat at his stool and took up his shears again. A few moments later as he was sweeping the cut bits of needle into the trash can Ein nosed his way around corner and looked at Jet and then sat in the doorway. Jet threw the small dog an approving smile and looked hard at the same tree. He imagined that he was the tree. What were his good points? What were his bad points? From which angle did he look the best? Did he have a bad side? If so, why?

After he had spent quite an amount of time answering all of these questions he opened his eyes and found the problem. It was the upper left branch. It wasn't twisting in just the right way. He spun the terra cotta tray that the plant lived in and examined the branch. He looked at it dead on, from the side, close up, far away, from the other side. 

Then it came to him exactly what could be done to fix that branch. He smiled with satisfaction as he gently, but firmly wrapped the thin wire delicately just so around the branch. 

He signed contentedly with his arms crossed over his chest as Ein barked still sitting in the doorway. The dog trotted to the table and hopped up on the extra stool. He looked at Jet for a moment and then nosed the marble off the table and on to the floor. He hopped off the stool and picked up the marble gently in his doggy teeth and trotted away.      

NFA: Not so sure of this one, but I hope you like it! I do. ^__^ As you probably guessed I will attempt the infamous Ein next chapter, so until then, PLEASE REVIEW! 


	5. Scratched

Well, I was a bit afraid of trying to write an Ein centered chapter. I'm not very original(as you can tell).. And I can't write cool dog stuff like Agent Orange or any of the other good people. I borrowed behaviors from a few of the many dogs I've met and tried to envision a dogs day! I hope it doesn't suck!

Thanks to **MerlynGirlReincarnate-17 **for the encouragement and first review! *glomp* Thanks, **Gabby**! The last chapter was out on time….this one was not. Thanks you guys!

Disclaimer: I do not own Cowboy Bebop.

Cosmic Imbalance

5.0

Scratched

            Ein clitter-clattered over the threshold of the bonsai room and down the hall with his marble. He paused briefly at the top of the stairs before hopping down one at a time with his two front paws and one back leg. Ed rolled over to him and he gently let the carefully poised marble roll into her hand. She squealed her approval and patted his head. 

Dogs love to be patted.

But Ed was an itchy kid and the itch spread to just behind his ear. Plopping right down by the stairs leading to the bathroom he extended his right hind leg and scratched furiously at his right ear.  It just wouldn't go away. 

He stopped and exhaled. Ein trotted over to Spike on the couch and whined bumping his head against the long hand that hung there. Ein watched as the head moved away from his direction and Spike groaned. 

            He whined and nudged the hand again. Just once get this itch for me. The man sighed and reluctantly it seemed, his hand moved over Ein's head. Once across then back, he repeated the motion. Then, finally, the fingers moved to just behind his right ear and scratched. Ein thumped his hind left foot against the floor appreciatively, and Spike smiled. Ein licked  Spike's salty thumb in thanks. Spike pulled his hand away and wiped his thumb off on his pants before moving his hand back against Ein's fur.

Ein's ears flicked back and they both froze at the sharp clack of heels on the stairs and pulled away from each other as if the contact burned. Spike closed his eyes and Ein moved to the other end of the couch and lay down. 

            The canine watched as Faye began to file a nail while reading a magazine in her lap. His ears perked forward at the not entirely unfamiliar or unwelcome sound of soft sizzling. He licked his chops in anticipation. He smelled dinner. Or at least those sounds and smells meant dinner in some form or another for him. He hoped.

            Twenty minutes later he was right. Dog food and peppers. Taste great, but give one bad gas.

Well, that's the end of CI! I finished a story and it's not a silly one shot! Rejoice! Now let's see if I can do the same with my epic story.  Thanks for reading, PLEASE REVIEW!


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